Skate Park Delay

The new and long awaited Bowling Green, Ky., skate park is nearing completion.

The $850,000 project was projected to be finished by October or November of 2006 but saw a delay.

Bowling Green City Commissioner Brian "Slim" Nash said he isn't the only one excited about Bowling Green's new skate park being finished.

"I hear about it everyday. There is not a day that goes by that I don't have someone ranging in age from six to 60 that asks how the skate parks going and when it's going to be open,” Nash said.

Nash has been involved with the skate park project from day one and said they are currently working with getting all of the concrete down.

"We had an initial park created by plan and then what we said is in our dreams; what else would we add on to it and so we had three or four different add-ons. We realized we were close to having one of our add-ons there but we were just short of money, so we delayed the project through October and November and now through the beginning of 2007, so that we could continue to do fundraising so that we could get those add-ons in there," Nash said.

Nash also said after the recent delays in the park, they're now hoping to have it open by the beginning of March 2007.

"The park will look completed for the most part come the end of this month, being January. What we want to do is make sure we allow the concrete to cure. The standard with concrete is to cure over 28 to 30 days and so if we get it done by the end of January, we'll have the month of February to allow it to cure and have the grand opening in March,” Nash said.

Proper curing allows the concrete to develop its potential strength and durability. Inadequate curing can result in surface damage such as cracks or erosion. This is why Nash is encouraging those who skate to wait until the grand opening to begin using the park.

"Even though the park may look completed from their standpoint, to not come out here and use it in an unauthorized fashion, because we don't want to do anything to damage that concrete during that curing process,” Nash said.

Nash also said the delay with the skate park didn't cost more money. Rather, he said it helped those involved in the park raise more money. He said they will continue fundraising to get money for more lighting.

Nash said they will also be putting fences up around the skate park for safety reasons so that it won't be wide open to the surrounding streets.

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